When using sports equipment, such as a golf club, tennis racquet, baseball bat, etc., one of the most fundamental aspects of the sport is the correct placement of one's hand(s) on and the amount of pressure applied the equipment (e.g., the handle). While hand placement and the amount of pressure are two of the most fundamental aspects of any sport, they are also two of the most difficult to properly achieve because they are often overlooked and under-practiced by players. The proper hand placement and pressure on the handle or grip of sports equipment can greatly increase one's chances at being a better player, but bad habits are easy to develop and hard to break. Therefore a variety of guides and devices have been developed to assist both beginners and experienced players with improving proper hand placement and pressure.
Since proper hand placement and pressure are important, countless books have been written and videos have been produced showing a player how to properly grip the handle in question. A player can read or view the books and/or videos and mimic the proper hand placement and pressure as described or otherwise illustrated in the book or video. While this can be a successful approach, one problem is that the player does not have any feedback as to whether he/she has followed the directions and has actually achieved proper hand placement and pressure. Because of this, there is room for error. Continuously practicing with the wrong grip reinforces bad habits of an improper grip.
Another option, especially for beginners at a sport, is to be personally instructed by an instructor as to the proper hand placement on sports equipment. This method is very useful as the instructor can instantly correct any errors and help the player achieve proper hand placement on the equipment. However, the drawback to this approach is that the instructor is typically only with the player for a short period of time. When not with the instructor, it is easy for a player to forget proper hand placement and fall back on a more comfortable and improper grip.
Because of the above-mentioned drawbacks, many devices have been developed to help a player achieve proper hand placement on the sports equipment. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,537,525 (the “'525 patent”). The '525 patent relates to a method of training a golfer how to correctly place his/her hands on a club by sliding a training device over the handle of a golf club and using lasers to properly position the training device on the handle. A drawback to this invention is that it can be difficult for players to position the device on the club handle, the device is bulky and draws attention to itself and the device does not feel natural. Another development to aid in proper hand placement is the use of specialized gloves that have bars or bumps along the inside of the hand to indicate where player's hands should be placed. Similar to the '525 patent, the downfall to such devices is that they tend to be expensive, bulky or heavy and draw attention to the fact that a player is using a training aid. None of the prior art devices provide a natural feel.
This disclosure solves the above-mentioned problems by providing an inexpensive, simple training aid for players to improve their hand placement and/or amount of pressure applied to sports equipment (e.g., a handle) with instant feedback as to whether or not the hands are positioned accurately and the pressure is proper. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the training aid described in this disclosure provides the user a natural feel of the article of sports equipment. This and other advantages will be fully realized in more detail below.